Qris Tap Officially Launched Now Can Make Transportation Mode Payments

BI Governor Perry Warjiyo tried Qris Tap (Photo: BI)

JAKARTA Bank Indonesia (BI) revealed that the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard without Scan (QRIS Tap) was officially launched on Friday, March 14, so that it can be used for payments for public transportation modes such as MRT, Damri, and RoyalTrans.

Head of the Bank Indonesia (BI) Payment Information System Department Dicky Kartikoyono revealed that payments using QRIS Tap are much faster when compared to conventional QRIS services.

On the other hand, Dicky said that to use the QRIS Tap service, the device or smartphone used must have the Near Field Communication (NFC) feature.

In addition, QRIS Tap has the same advantage as chip-based electronic money, such as Flazz cards or e-money cards, which people often use, namely the faster use process.

Dicky explained that QRIS Tap is a combination of QRIS Customer Presented Mode (CPM) and NFC technology. With this technology, the payment process becomes faster because the system uses radio frequency reading, no longer relying on cameras to scan QR codes.

"Now we are back, first open the mobile banking, remove the QR. The QR is read out by a reader who has NFC technology, Near Field Communication. Those who read are not cameras, but Near Field Communication," said Dicky at the QRIS Tap Media Taklimat event at the BI Office, Friday, March 14.

Dicky said that the chip based electronic money took 4 to 5 seconds to detect, but QRIS Tap only took 0.3 seconds.

By using QRIS Tap, users no longer need to scan (scan) codes like in conventional QRIS so that it is enough to open a mobile banking application or other payment applications, select the QRIS menu, then select the QRIS Tap feature and source funds. After that, users only need to enter a transaction PIN to complete the payment.

Meanwhile, the source of transaction funds comes from savings accounts, credit facilities, and server-based electronic money from payment service providers that support QRIS Tap.

Dicky added that then the device only needs to be brought closer or attached to the contactless terminal at the merchant.

"It's very fast. If it's used in transportation, it reduces the queue," he said.

Dicky revealed that currently there are 2,353 merchants who can use QRIS Tap consisting of 1,528 retailers, 134 public transportation (including one Trans Sarbagita fleet, 120 Damri, 12 RoyalTrans, and one MRT with the HI Roundabout - Lebak Bulus route, 550 hospitals, 138 MSMEs, and 3 parking lots.

However, the use of QRIS Tap on MRT is only available for routes from the HI Roundabout Station to Lebak Bulus Station, or vice versa so that users cannot get off at the stations located between the two points.

Dicky explained that this early stage of QRIS Tap can only be used for single tariffs. The problem is, he continued, MRT is a multi-rate transportation: fares from HI Roundabout to Senayan are different from rates from HI Roundabout to Blok M.

Dicky explained that the initial stage of QRIS Tap only supports single tariffs, while MRT uses a multi-rate tariff system, such as the difference in rates between the HI Roundabout to Senayan and the HI Roundabout to Blok M.

"Because reading various rates that apply to a trip requires different algorithms. Well, this then takes time in development. Now we are launching [launch] for the single tariff area, namely entering HI, leaving in Lebak Bulus," he explained.

Meanwhile, for transportation such as Damri buses to RoyalTrans, QRIS Tap can be used for almost all routes, because the tariff is single.

In addition, BI plans to expand the use of QRIS Tap in public transportation, with a target use at the LRT in June 2025, as well as KRL and KCI in September 2025.